


Healing Old Wounds Sometimes Means Creating New Ones

by Archaeodigit_dima



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Gavin is a beaten puppy who acts out to protect himself, M/M, androids being just as bad, men who don't know how to express themselves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-08-06 06:55:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16383452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Archaeodigit_dima/pseuds/Archaeodigit_dima
Summary: This is a Nines and Gavin become an item fic with angst and pain to come ... and some fluff later





	1. Wounds Reopen

“Mornings are for coffee and contemplation,” Read quoted an old tv series that he liked a lot, though he would never openly admit to it.   
“Perhaps on your days off but this morning is for your coffee and contemplating paperwork,” Richard aka RK900 … the android sent by the now dead cyberlife, stated. “You are a month behind and that is not acceptable.   
“A month?” Reed asked, knowing full well he was only a week behind. “Really?”  
‘The amount of files in the database is indicative of a month’s worth of paperwork,” Dick responded in his manner of fact voice, like he knew it all … which 99.99% of the time he did but he didn’t have to act like it.   
“Want to check the dates of the case files?” Reed challenged. 

Reed knew this was a dangerous move. For once, the aluminium blue blooded jerk was wrong but Reed had already been manhandled by RK a few times and his eg and bruised limbs were still recovering. Hank had really lucked out with the puppy like android he had.   
Richard’s LED was spinning yellow as he checked the casefile dates. His brows begun to furrow in annoyance that he was wrong for once. The LED went red for a blink of an eye before returning to its happy blue state. I let out a short breath. 

“It appears that you are only one week behind in your paperwork,” RK conceded.

Reed being his usually, I am tougher than you self has to press the issue. Had he actually finished his morning coffee he would have been intelligent and kept his mouth shut. Yet Richard had deprived Gavin of his coffee lead to him pressing his luck. 

“And what happened less that week ago?” Reed pressing his luck had bad timing as HAnk and Conor were coming in super late as usually as he opened his mouth.   
“The Android revolution,” RK 900 state in a matter of fact voice.   
“Exactly; the damn Android Revolution, it kind of makes for a pile of paperwork. I may be an asshole but I am an efficient one.”  
“Good for you Reed! First time to recovery is admitting you have a problem. I am sure you can recovery from being an asshole,” Hank said loudly as he passed Reed’s desk on the way to his. 

Connor was trying to hide his laughter by covering his mouth but it wasn't really working. Reed began to turn a terrible shade of red, leaning closer to his half full cup of coffee. 

“Fuck me-”  
“Detective, your temperature is rising around your face. Is everything okay?” RK900 asked. 

Reed groaned into his arm, wishing he could disappear. 

“Yeah nines I am just fine,” Reed said without the normal sass that was a constant in his voice. “Alright which of these casefiles should we focus on first nines?”

Reed looked up at Richard who was looking confused; glancing between the laughing and happy forms of Hank and Connor to me. His LED was turning yellow as he shifted his gaze. Reed was concerned and curious about what his android partner was thinking. His glance landed back on Gavin, then his LED turn blue again and his expression cleared.

“It would seem logical that we start from the oldest to the newest,” Richard responded beginning to queue everything up and they got to work

***

It wasn’t much later that the android revolution caused yet another call that Reed and RK900 had to go out into the cold to deal with it. Hank and Connor were also assigned to this case as it was still an active crime scene. A few humans decided it would be okay to attack the local androids who were still learning about the less attractive areas of Detroit to be in at night.   
This was an area that Gavin knew well, the alley way right next to this intersection had been within his dreams; haunting him for three years now. 

How time flew huh? Gavin thought to himself. He closed his eyes tightly trying to banish the feeling of dread that was engulfing him. 

Gavin switched his focus to the piles humanoid limbs and body parts. There was thirium painting the street and worked its way all the way into the alley way. The three androids were hit with tasers then beaten until they were barely recognizable. Gavin walked over to one of the android. Their torso was leaning against the wall of the alley; one of its arms was missing and their head was badly bashed in. There was blue blood coating most of the androids body. As Gavin looked at the body, his vision blurred as the blood turned from blood to red, the bright sun turned to the blinding light of high intensity lamps in the middle of the night. Nausea swept over Gavin, his attempts to ground himself in the here and now failed him. He leaned heavily on the wall.

“Lieutenant?” Connor asked.  
“What is it Connor?” Hank asked not really paying attention to where was looking.   
“Lieutenant, detective Reed seems very distressed. He is shaking as if he is cold but his body temperature is normal for this weather and his well dressed for cold. Do you know what could be causing this? Should Richard be concerned?”  
“RK900 worrying eh? Asking you about it so he doesn’t have to have Reed yelling at him?” Hank responded still not looking at Connor. Instead he continued to look around the around for clues.   
“Yes and no. Yes Richard is worried but looking at Detective Reed right now I am worried too,” Connor responded.

Hank could hear the agitation in Connor’s voice which made him look up. Connor’s LED was rotating fast, the yellow light blinking. It made him curious, he looked over to where Connor was looking. RK900 was standing near one of the android’s body but was not looking at it. Instead, he was focused on Gavin who was leaning against the wall. He was sweating yet the temperature was well below freezing. His was breathing fast, covering him in a haze of his own breath. Richard’s LED was flashing red, he was clearly worried about Gavin. Richard was still new to interacting with humans, learning how to deal with their emotions. Hank knew RK cared about Reed, that his sassing was his attempt to replicate the attitude of the one he actually cared about. Two Reeds in one station, that would be difficult but he had to admit it was nice see Reed meeting his match and smile in a non-malicious way.

“Richard?” Hank gently placed a hand on the androids shoulder. “Richard, what happened to Gavin right before this?”  
“He …” RK900 stopped for a second in his speech his LED switching between red and yellow. 

Stress levels at 75% flashed across his vision, RK closed his eyes for a moment before responding to Hank. He had seen Gavin do this several times when he got too angry and needed to calm down, Richard hoped it would have the same effect for his android mind. 

“Nines,” Hank used Gavin’s nickname for the android when he didn’t respond hoping to get through to him. “Can you tell me what happened just before?”  
“Reed was fine. He was looking around the area then focused on the alley way then the body in front of him.”

Hank noted the change how Richard spoke about Reed, dropping the detective. The android was raddled by the status of his partner. Hank looked around the area that Reed had been focused on before he had become so agitated. He noticed that this was the area that Reed had worked before being transferred to the current district he work. 

“Connor, can you check Reed’s files? See if anything happened in this area,” Hank asked Connor before he walked over to Reed and gently tapped him on the shoulder. “Reed? You okay?”

Gavin heard his name being called, he knew what he was seeing wasn’t what was actually in front of him. The shock and horror from three years ago still held him firm in his delusion - his memory of that night. The metallic smell of blood that wasn’t there was swirling around him. 

“Fuck …” he muttered to himself yet again. “Oscar is dead and not here; he is long dead and his ashes are scattered into the river. That body is an android, it isn’t Oscar.”

“Hank,” Connor and RK900 called at the same time. They both ran a quick search when Gavin started to mutter the name Oscar. 

Connor looked to Richard, knowing that he didn’t like to use the android link for non-verbal communication unless it was absolutely necessary/ Connor nodded to Richard to letting him tell Hank.

“Lieutenant, Oscar Rodriguez was the name of Detective Reed’s last partner. He was killed in this alley in a gang incident three years ago. Reed was with him when he died.”  
“That explains this reaction,” Hank responded, nodding to himself. “Nines come over here.”

RK walked over cautiously, not sure what the Lieutenant could possibly want with him.   
Hank knew if he was the one to try to coax Gavin out of his memory Reed would clam up and get angry. Not to mention Gavin would probably punch him a couple of times. Best to let his android pull him out of this; and if Nine gets punched it will probably hurt Gavin more than Richard.

“Richard I want you to gently tap Detective Reed on the shoulder and let him to know you are here and that its not Rodriguez in from of him.”  
“Why me sir?”  
“He will most likely respond better if it is his new partner telling him,” Hanke responded. It was a half lie. The android looked at Hank as if he knew Hank was lying. Richard’s LED gently spinning yellow as he walked towards the detective.

“Detective Reed,” Nines said overly formal, his LED spinning a frantic yellow. 

Reed appeared not to hear him as he spoke. RK900 knew that Reed didn’t like to be touched from behind. Richard tried to maneuver himself so that Reed could see him. It was an awkward position to hold, making sure that he didn’t disturb any of the evidence from the crime scene around him. 

“Detective?”

Richard could see the fearful expression on Gavin’s face. He was scared and upset, his eyes were wide; not seeing what was around him. Richard’s LED was spinning faster jumping between red and yellow. He wanted to make sure that Gavin was okay, and that the detective knew that he was. Richard had become attached to the detective, despite his many protests that he was an android and couldn’t have human emotions. All of which were met by Lieutenant Anderson’s rolled eyes, followed by a sarcastic “sure that’s what they all say.”   
Richard placed a hand on the Detective's shoulder and gave a light squeeze. He had seen Hank do the same to Connor when he was upset. 

“Gavin?” Nines asked quietly this time, being close enough that he knew his quiet voice would be heard. “Gavin?” 

 

For the second time, Gavin recognized that his name was being called. Not a loud and brash   
Detective Reed” but a quiet call of his first name. He blinked quickly, the smell of blood faded from his senses. The body in front of him morphed back into the damaged android that it truly was, another victim that this alley had claimed as its own.

Gavin peered around looking for the source that called his name. He met a pair of Hazel eyes that were full of concer. 

“Oscar?!” Gavin asked then threw himself at the man in front of him; hugging the man tight. 

The hug caught RK900 off guard, making him take a few steps back. He wasn’t sure why Reed had called him Oscar, but Nines suddenly felt very protective of the smaller man and held him tight.

“Lieutenant? Why did the Detective call RK900 Oscar? He usually calls him Nines, Richard or a variety of other things,” Connor asked.   
“Leave it be Connor. I’ll tell you when you are older,” Anderson responded giving Connor’s hair a quick tousle, making the android huff, but he smiled at the touch nonetheless. 

Gavin became aware of the conversation around him. Hearing Connor questioning Hank about Oscar and Nines. Reed hesitated to look up at the person who was holding him tight. He knew what he would find, the blue eyes of Nines and not the Hazel ones of Oscar. Gavin took a deep breath then looked up and confirm his suspicions. The face that he was greeted with was not Oscar’s but Nines’. Reed readied himself to push away from the android embarrassment already turning his face red. Yet Reed stopped himself. Richard had a protective look about him, he wasn’t taking pity on him, he wasn’t an unfeeling android; there was something human and carrying about Nines in that moment. Reed felt comforted and protected by the man who held him close. He was safe to be vulnerable, to be scared, to miss his friend.   
“Thanks Nines,” Gavin muttered into the android’s chest. 

Looking up Gavin saw a blue blush creeping across RK900’s face. Reed had to keep from laughing. Even an android could be embarrassed. For the first time in a long time, Gavin felt comfortable, not having to put up a front.   
Reed untangled himself from Richard, for the most part but let the android keep his hand protectively over his shoulder. 

“Sorry about that Lieutenant,” Reed said quietly. “Memories got the better of him.”  
“Not a problem kid,” Hank responded in an almost fatherly voice. “We are all haunted by ghost sometimes we can’t control how we are going to react to them.”  
“You going to keep this to yourself Connor?” Reed asked.  
“Of course Detective,” Connor said in his usual cheery voice. “Lieutenant Anderson has some interesting copying mechanism as well. I have found him in an alcohol induced coma with a gun in his hand. Your method seems to be a lot more healthy.”  
“Connor!” Hank yelled looking highly embarrassed. “Did you have to tell them that?”  
“I don’t understand the problem Lieutenant. Weren’t you just expressing that there was no embarrassment to be had in your coping mechanisms?”

Hank let out an exasperated sigh. It was his turn to turn red. Gavin decided to take pity on the other android who was clearly confused as fuck by the change in viewpoint. 

“Hey Lieutenant, I had no idea you drank yourself into comas. But that explains the brain cell destruction that is clearly with you,” Reed stated; making light of the information, making Hank know that he didn’t think less of the man.  
“Laugh it up hugger,” Hank responded, nodding slightly knowing what Reed was trying to convey. 

Connor and Nines looked at each other, their LEDs both spinning yellow.

“Connor do you understand them? They seemed be arguing with each other and making fun of their experiences yet their vital levels are displaying that they are happy and comfortable.” RK900 asked the older android through the communication link.  
“No idea, I haven’t figured out male bonding very well. It seems to be insult based. The more you insult them the happier their relationship is.”   
“I see.”   
“A word of warning it only works with human males. They do not respond the same way when an android insults them.”  
“Thanks for the warning.”   
“Hey what are you two tin cans talking about?” Gavin asks. “Your LEDs were flashing. You two aren’t that stealth.”  
“Human behaviour patterns,” Connor responded overly chipper.   
“Sure …” Anderson responded skeptically. “Gavin you good to continue on this case?”

Hank’s voice softened as he spoke to the detective. He worried about the younger man knowing that he had had a rough time of it like himself. He didn’t want to see him have a downward spiral like Hank had experienced. He hoped Nines could keep Gavin in line, like Connor did for him.

“Yes lieutenant,” Gavin replied. “Can’t have a detective break down at every corpse in an alleyway.”   
“Self deprecating humor only proves that you are not alright detective Reed,” Nines stated hotly, with more emotion than the detective had heard come from the android. Gavin looked the android up and down. 

Reed had figured that Nines had become deviant but he was good at keeping it hidden, but there were moment that it became obvious that he had begun to experience human like emotions. This was one of them. The android could have said that he was simply running a login problem, but his furrowed brow and circling red LED told a different story. Gavin wasn’t sure how to respond to Nine’s concern, it was genuine and he hadn’t had that since Oscar had died. Gavin wasn’t sure how he felt about the android becoming attached to him. He had been putting up the brash, more like asshole appearance if he was going to be honest with himself, to keep people away from him. Despite this, Nines had begun to care about him. 

Gavin looked start at Richard, trying to make sure the android would believe what he was about to say.   
“Nines, I know you are concerned but what I said is true. I am of no use if I am going to crumple at every body I see in an alleyway.”

Nines got ready to say something in response but stopped. His calculations told him that it would make very little difference. Instead he decided, after running several pre-constructions for the best outcome, to keep an eye on the detective. Be there to notice any signs of distress and help to alleviate them. He had seen his older brother do the same for Hank when the Lieutenant was distressed. RK900 wanted to do the same for Reed, yet the detective was a lot more complicated than Anderson. Reed actively pushed people away; Connor had told him that Hank had been like that earlier but without the asshole edge that Gavin displayed. Richard had a hard time believing Connor since Hank and his relationship was so warm. It didn’t seem possible for such a personality change could occur. 

“Understood Detective,” was the android’s only response to what Gavin had said. His features having returned to their cold analytic stance. 

Gavin could only detect something being slightly off with the android’s processing by his LED flashing a yellow every once in awhile. Nine’s was thinking up something, what that was Reed didn’t know but it made him somewhat nervous as he stepped away from him, just out of his grasp.

“Lieutenant, shall we continue this investigation or keep standing here?” Gavin said his voice a bit unsteady.   
“I don’t know we could just stand here and the two wonder brothers to do their thing,” Hank said with a smirk. 

The wonder brothers comment got a whine from Connor and a grunt from Nines. The two of them hated the nickname Time had come up with. They did not like being reminded that they looked so much alike. On the other hand, Hank and Gavin had both embraced the nickname with glee. 

“Connor, I believe I am experiencing the human emotion known as irritation,” Nines stated giving Hank a piercing glare.  
“Maybe we should let the humans do the heavy lifting this time,” Connor said with a smirk.  
“Toasters gaining a sense of humor,” Gavin said with his usual smirk. “Or is that an upgrade that we purchased from Cyberlife for the two of you.”

Nines gave Gavin a death glare that made his smile shrink a bit/ 

“Boys enough teasing let's get to work,” The lieutenant said calling everyone to order.

~~~

Analysing the crime scene took more time than any of them had anticipated. The data Connor and Richard discovered were not fitting any logical pattern. The constructions the two of them kept creating always reached a point where it crumbled apart.

“Damn it,” Connor had said out of frustration.  
“Another failure?” Hank asked placing a calming had on Connor’s shoulder. The android did not take failure well and was getting increasingly agitated, his LED more often red and yellow than blue.   
“Looks like we are going to need a mix of android processing and good old detective work,” Gavin muttered looking to Nines.   
“It appears as if there is something we are missing, a piece of evidence, a …” Nines trailed off, his LED spinning a frantic yellow. 

Gavin gave a light pat on the shoulder to Richard. 

“Welcome to the human experience of not having all these answers, it sucks get used to it,” Gavin said in a somewhat comforting tone.   
“I would rather not,” Nines mumbled. 

Nines watched as the two humans went about analyzing the crime scene. They took pictures, crotched around key pieces of evidence and then with gloves placed it in an evidence bag. It was all very arachic to the android, but he had to remind himself this is how humans had been investigating and solving crimes this way for decades. It had served them well enough, perhaps it would be sufficient now.   
Richard started to focus less on the activities themselves that Hank and Gavin were doing and more on their body language. The lieutenant was at ease in his work. His muscles relaxed - well for the most part except for when the od man nearly put his back out trying to get up from a crouch. Reed however was not so relaxed. The brash humour he usually dealt remained but his voice was not as confident or at ease. His shoulders and back were taut. Each time he looked at any of the dead androids or the alley way his hand would curl into tight fists. 

He is trying to keep himself together, Nines thought. Gavin is hurting but he doesn’t want to show it.

“I think we have got all we can get from this crime scene,” Hank announced, being met with a grunt of agreement from Gavin.  
“Food?” Gavin asked.   
“Chicken Feed?”  
“Why must you two eat at the most unhealthy place?” Connor whined.  
“Connor we have gone over this rabbit food maybe good for you but it tastes like shit,” the Lieutenant repeated his almost daily argument with his android partner. 

Connor continued to grumble and pout at this response as Nines tried to run a diagnosis as to why he couldn’t analyse the scene properly, at the same time he ran ideas of how to keep Gavin’s stress levels low. The analysis on Gavin’s stress levels lead to an answer before the crime scene one. A pet, was the answer that came back. A pet is known to lead to decreases in stress, the most common type being a dog. Although dogs needed a lot of attention, especially puppies … Reed didn’t have that amount of time. Nines ruled that option out, which was immediately replaced by another pet option. A kitten. They are independent, but also affectionate. From the videos that he was analyzing from the internet they could also be jerks, which fits perfectly with Gavin’s personality. That could be a perfect method to get Gavin’s stress levels down.   
The second discovery was not going to help Gavin’s stress levels at all.   
RK900 finished his diagnostic on why both Connor and him couldn’t complete the crime scene reconstructions. Nines found that when he and Connor had done their initial scan of the scene a virus was uploaded into their systems. It first corrupted their crime scene analysis system, which was bad enough, but then it moved on to create a homing beacon on a specific frequency. The coding of the virus was specifically designed to attack RK800’s programming, that unfortunately had the same effect on Nines. The programming of the virus was so specific that Nines thought this was targeted, and only one person would know how to deal with this and who may know who would have the skills to pull it off. That man was Elijah Kamski, the creator of androids and Gavin’s least favourite cousin. 

“Detective, Lieutenant,” Nines quietly said, breaking into the conversation … more like argument.   
“What is it toaster?” Gavin asked with mock annoyance.   
“Sirs, I ran a diagnostic while you two were clogging your arteries and I have found something that is worrisome. Both Connor and I have been infected with a virus that has corrupted our processors and lead to us sending out a homing beacon.”   
“That can’t right I am not sending out a signal, I run multiple diagnostics every minute,” Connor protested.  
“Wouldn’t do you any good this virus was specifically designed to attack you, so it knows how to hide from your diagnostics, but not my superior systems,” Nines stated in a matter of fact way. “The people who killed those androids knew that Connor would be called into investigate and I appear to be an added bonus.”  
“Are you telling me we are sitting targets?” Gavin asked through clenched teeth. “And you are just telling us this now?”   
“I just finished my diagnostic,” Nines replied. He assumed this was an appropriate answer. Although from the slight tremor in Gavin’s jaw and the worried look that the Lieutenant had, Richard concluded. He knew he had to tell them who they needed to see, but Nines hesitated worrying about how Reed would respond to the next part.   
“We can’t just stay here, we are sitting targets,” Hank stated, having abandon his food. He was looking to Connor with concern etched into his face.   
“There is only one person who can help break this coding and possibly know who could develop this type of virus,” Nines said looking at Gavin, gauging his reaction as he spoke. Realization illuminated his eyes with apprehension.  
“Ejiah Kamski?” Reed asked. “We have to see him?”  
“Unfortunately.”  
“Fuck.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is more of a setup chapter for stuff to come. A bit of glance into Gavin's past, with some men/androids having trouble with their emotions.

“That asshole again?” Hank said with frustration entering his voice.  
“I don’t want to see him again,” Connor whimper, he had started to fold in on himself. Hank noticed and pulled the android into a one armed hugged.  
“Something you and me can agree on tin can,” Gavin grumbled. Reed’s hands were clenched tight into fists, his nails digging into his palm leaving red angry lines. “Are you sure he is the only one who can help you and Connor?”

Nines LED spun frantically at Gavin using Connor’s preferred name. Reed was looking down at his hands as he spoke. Nines didn’t know why he didn’t like Kamski; the one time Nines had ask Gavin about he got extremely upset and refused to talk about it or to him for a few days. Even now he could see how much Reed was upset about going to his cousin for help.

“Yes,” Nines said quietly but firmly. “The quicker the better we are sitting … DUCK!”

Connor pushed Hank done as a bullet screamed past where his head had been not seconds before. Gavin was not so lucky. Nines was sitting across from him and wasn’t able to get to Reed quick enough, not to mention Reed’s response to “Duck” was to sit straight up and be ready to fight. He didn’t stay upright for long as Richard threw himself across the table trying to push him out of the way as more bullets come at them. Nines wasn’t fast enough though, a bullet grazed Gavin’s arm. Nines and Connor hauled their humans to a nearby alley it a fools attempt to get out of the line of fire. It would work for a bit but not long.

“You weren’t kidding about being a homing signal,” Gavin said further clenched teeth.  
Nines quickly analysed the situation. There were 3 humans that were coming at them from the street. All three of them were carrying 9mm, walking slowly with purpose to where the four of them were hiding. They knew they had the advantage. He then looked over at Hank and Connor, both were fine - although the lieutenant was letting out a string of curses. Then he looked to Gavin, his vitals were elevated as he tried to stop the bleeding on his arm with his hand. Nines wanted to help but that wasn’t what he had to focus on right now; he had to deal with the attackers first.

“Detective I need you gun,” Nines said without emotion.  
“Don’t kill anyone,” Reed stated as he handed him it over. Nines was surprised by the fact that Reed didn’t fight him over it, there was an understanding in his eyes.  
“Understood,” Nines quietly responded.  
“I am guessing you want mine as well Connor?”  
“Yes Lieutenant, I am a far better shot than you no matter the situation.”  
“Hey toaster we are going to need to work on your humility there,” Reed said with a forced chuckle. “Now go get those asssholes.”

Connor and Nines immediately went to work taking out the three humans. The detective had asked/ordered Nines not to kill anyone but that didn’t stop him from causing them a lot of pain and permanent damage. Richard did not take kindly to people trying to hurt his partner. I am developing actions similar to Reed. Luckily, Connor acted them same, aiming for their joints to take them down. After a few seconds of gun fire there was only the sound of the men writhing in pain on the ground.

“Remind me not to anger either of them,” Gavin mumbled as he peaked his head around the corner seeing the destruction the two android had caused.  
“Reed you know you are going to piss off Nines about three times in the next five minutes. Just be happy he likes you,” Hank reminded him.

A slight blush creeped into Gavin’s face, when none should have been there, at Hanks words. The idea of Nines actually liking him made him nervous and happy all at the same time. It was something that had been surfacing more and more as he spent time with him. At the same time he couldn’t afford an attachment like that. Especially not were the four of them were about to go; who they were going to have to see. Elijah Kamski.

“The police and ambulances are three minutes out,” Connor stated, giving no one in particular that up date.  
“You guys were rather through in dealing with them,” Hank told Connor as he patted him on the shoulder.  
“It was the most efficient way to make sure they lived but would not be hurting anyone for a very long time,” Connor’s LED turned a vibrant red as he spoke. He was grabbing each of the guns that the attackers had dropped. He destroyed each gun with an angry precision.  
“Well those will never be useful agai-” Gavin’s comment was cut off by his own yelp. Nines had come over to inspect his wound which apparently meant poking the area around it. “Careful.”  
“Like you were when you stood up after I had just said to duck,” Nines looked him straight in the eyes as he said this, his LED spinning yellow.  
“You know I always do the opposite of what I am told,” Gavin replied with an anxious laugh.

The police cars and ambulance came in time to cut the tension that had begun to form. The majority of the androids and cops who arrived focused on the bleeding would be attackers tat Connor and Hank were supervising - they were rolling around in pain. One of the medics came over to where Gavin and Nines were sitting.

“Detective may I see your injury? The lieutenant informed me that you were grazed by a bullet from your attackers,” the EMT asked politely. He was a young man barely out of college.  
“If you would hand me your medical bag I can handle it from here,” Nines stated, while staring down the man.  
“Umm-” the EMT responded trying to figure out how to respond to the androids request.  
“Nines go easy on Callahan,” Gavin said, having read the man’s name off of his name sewed on his uniform.  
“If you could please hand me your medical kit, Callahan. So I can do a superior job ot you,” Nines amended his statement, which was received with a groan from Reed.

Callahan looked between the detective and the android trying desperately to understand what was happening. In the end, he handed the bag over to Nines and slowly walked away. Gavin felt a bit sorry for the guy being on the receiving end of some of the anger Richard had for the situation.

“You could have been nicer to him,” Gavin said, in a somewhat unusual concern for the feelings of others.  
“Kettle and black Reed,” Nines replied before going to work on patching up Gavin.

He carefully removed Reed’s now destroyed jacket that he was looking at like a beaten puppy. Several ice when Nines had walked the intoxicated detective home he had told him how it was his favourite. Richard cleaned the cut with a wipe, which caused Reed to hiss as it stinger. Nines paused to making sure that the man’s vitals were in a safe range. He wanted to be sure the spike was just from the discomfort of having the cut cleaned and nothing worse from when Nine had pushed him to the ground and dragged the detective to safety. There was no concussion just some bruising around the graze and on his shoulder which had made contact with the pavement when Nines had pushed him out of the way. He placed temporary butterfly stitches, which would be enough till he could get Reed to a hospital or get the equipment to do it himself.

“All done, you are will heal and your shoulder is not too badly bruised from when I pushed you,” Nines said looking away from Gavin as he spike, packing back up the med kit. “You jacket however is dead.”

Gavin watched Nines carefully as he had patched him up. Every time he looked a the bruise forming on his shoulder Nines’ LED started to spin yellow and red. Now as he packed the supplies away the LED was spinning an anxious yellow, and the android didn’t seem to want to look at him.

“Nines it’s not your fault. This little bruising is far better than a few more bullets hitting me,” Gagne told the back of the android’s head. He had meant it to have been works of comfort but the LED was frantically spinning jumping between blue, yellow, and red.

_Shit, I try to help and I just cause the tin can to have a break down. God you are useless Gavin._

“They are targeting Connor and I. I am here to help you investigate homicides. I am not supposed to make you a potential one,” Nines said still looking at the bag.  
“I am perfectly capable of making my own enemies. This isn’t the first time I have been shot, never mind shot at. I am perfectly capable of getting myself into trouble,” Gavin tried to be nonchalant, he wasn’t very good at comforting people; most androids were better at it them, including the one he was trying to help now.  
“The only reason you were in the line of fire was because Connor and I got a virus and became targets,” Nines countered.  
“And how many time has my mouth gotten us into a fight in the last two months since we became partners?”  
“75 times,” Nines replied a bit too quickly for Gavin’s liking.  
“Is it actually that many times?” Gavin questioned.  
“Those are the incidents I can confirm were directly because of something you said.”

_Well fuck I need to work on that._

“See you are allowed one for how many times I have gotten us into trouble,” Reed comments patting Nines on the shoulder awkwardly.  
“Hey Nines you can’t fix his personality just worry bout his physical injuries,” The lieutenant called from one of the cruisers.  
“Very funny Anderson,” Reed called back, walking over to the Lieutenant, dragging his partner behind him. “Keep that up and I may develop a complex.  
“Too late,” Hank grunted.  
“Lieutenant perhaps we should focus on what Nines had learned and less on his partner’s flawed personality,” Connor interrupted the light hearted banter.  
“Understood Connor,” responded giving his partner a tight squeeze on his shoulder.

It was clear that Connor was rattled. This was the second time today he was not in the know about what was happening and he didn’t like it. He felt vulnerable, and he knew that it was putting Hank in danger.

“The two wonder twins have been compromised. It was intentional ad the only person who may - and I emphasize may - be able to help us is my asshole cousin - Elijah Kamski,” Reed quickly summarized.

Gavin had assumed that his wonder twins comment would have gotten him hit by both Nines and Connor. Instead it was me with complete silence. Hank’s face was a mask of surprise. Connor’s LED was a solid yellow and for some reason didn’t appear to be spinning.

_Did the kid blue screen? Can androids blue screen? Blue screen, really that is the analogy I go for? God I am getting old._

“Guys you okay? Did the virus get worse? Nines it time still working?” Reed asked a nervous edge to his voice.  
“Time is functioning as normal,” Nines replied matter of factly.  
“Gavin how long have we worked together?” Hank asked.  
“About a decade?”  
“And you have never mentioned that the man who is the creator of androids is your cousin?” Hank’s response was strained.  
“Well yes but like we aren’t that close. He s a bit of an asshole as you well know,” Gavin tried to keep his voice level but his nervousness betrayed him as he shifted from foot to foot.  
“That’s a bit of an understatement,” Connor muttered.  
“Still you should have told us when it was clear he had a clause about deviancy,” Hank was clearly distressed about this.  
“I didn’t think it would have helped. I have barely talked to him since our moms’ funeral. They both died in a car accident when we were 15,” Gavin’s voice was much quieter than it normally was. Hank had look like he was going to press the issue but relented after this revelation.

Hank’s normal gruff exterior relented and the fatherly persona that Gavin had a faint memory of from before the accident nearly four years ago. Gavin remembered Hank being a great dad - a dad that Gavin wished he had. Cole had been such a lucky kid to have Hank as his father. It was hard to remember that softer more put together Lieutenant Hank Anderson had existed; although with Connor being around more that old Hank was slowly returning.

“Well,” Hank rubbed the back of his neck as he began to organize his thoughts. “So we are sure this is the right move, going to see that lunatic.”  
“No,” Nines said quickly. “But is is the option with the greatest probability of success.”  
“Then that is the plan,” Gavin grumbled.  
“Alright children pile into the car and we will head to our local douchebag genius’ house,” Anderson said.  
“Shouldn’t we let him know we are coming,” Nines and Connor said in unison and then stared each other down.  
“Nah let's just show up, he deserves it,” Gavin said as he got into the car.


	3. Cousins aren't always so friendly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Verbal battles between Kamski and Gavin

The drive to Kamski’s house was a rough one. The eccentric genius lived in the middle of nowhere outside of Detroit. It was the middle of February, so there was lots of snow on the barely used country roads out to his house. Hank’s car wasn’t exactly designed to deal with a lot of snow. They got stuck a few times, Connor and Nines managed to get the car out of the rut. Connor kept insisting that he should drive due to his superior android skills, but Anderson wasn’t going to let him drive his car.   
It took them nearly two hours to reach the ugly, self important monstrosity that Elijah called his home. During that time Nines kept an eye on Reed. He had pushed himself against the door in the backseat, staring out the window. He made the odd snide comment but for the most part of the two hours he was silent. The closer they got to Kamski’s house the more erratic his heart rate and breathing became. It got worse once the modern hipster “dream” home came into view. 

“Even buried in snow the place looks ugly,” Hank commented as he parked his car in what he hope was the driveway.   
“So this is the palace he built himself,” Gavin noted as he got out of the car examining every inch of the house he could see.   
“Money doesn’t necessarily buy taste,” Hank mumbled as he walked towards the door.  
By the time they arrived at the door a Chloe unit was already opening it and ushering them in from the cold. The room was dark and sparsely furnished. The photo of Amanda had been taken down since the last time Connor and Hank had been in this room. 

“Lieutenant Anderson, Detective Reed, Connor, RK900,” the Chloe greeted each of them in turn. “We weren’t expecting you to arrive. Did I forget to program in a meeting?”

The Chloe unit looked worried about the fact that she had possibly forgotten something. The display of emotion appeared genuine, it his Gavin that it would make-sense that all of Kamski’s androids would be deviant, that he would have tested the RK9 virus on his Chloes to make them as human as possible. The was his goal after all. The whole helper part had been cyberlife’s mission statement to sell them; not Eli’s endgame. 

“No Chloe,” Gavin said quietly. “You didn’t forget an appointment. We need some assistance from Eli, and didn’t have time to make an appointment in advance.”  
“It is an emergency,” Connor added.  
“I see,” Chloe’s LED spun yellow as she communicated with the other Chloe units within the house. “Elijah is in his workshop upstairs, if you would follow me I will take you to him.”

The four of them followed Chloe up a staircase near the rear of the house. It was open to one side with boxes of windows of various colours. After two flights of stairs she reached the top floor which was completely open with various tables spread across the large room. There were tools hanging on the far wall and standing tool boxes next to each table. Kamski was sitting next to one of the tables that hd Chloe unit on it. He was focused on the computer, typing rapidly. 

“Elijah you have some visitors here, the said it was an emergency,” Chloe announced once she was next kamski. “How’s Lara’s repairs going?”

Chloe frowned as she looked at her sister unit. 

Eli really had created amazing creatures in these androids, Gavin thought. 

Reed could see how they cared for one another. He looked to Nines who stood next to him towering in an impassive manner, back to his stoic self. Gavin couldn’t deny his feeling of disappointment that his partner had returned to his impassive behaviour again. When he looked to Connor and Hank, heck even when he looked at Chloe and Kamski, he felt a pang of jealousy squeeze at his chest. He want that close relationship. Though he was also afraid to get close to anyone, cause he might lose them again. 

“She will be fine, just need to remove the last of the malware that got into her coding,” Kamski sighed. “Then I will figure out who managed to hurt her.”

Kamski gave Chloe’s hand a tight squeeze of comfort before he sopp up and began to talk to us.

“Now what is this emergency - Gavin?” Kamski started to be his tough cocky rich genius self until he turned around and saw Reed standing in front of him.

He walked over to Gavin, looking him up and down, He looked confused, surprised and happy; Reed however began to feel uneasy, his stomach was a mess of nerves.

“Hey Gavin what’s the emergency that brought you here?” Kamski asked cautiously.  
“Well Inspector gadget I am only here because someone was smarter than you and hacked my partner and Hank’s. They are now walking talking homing beacons with no investigative use,” Gavin replied leaking away from Kamski who had a hurt look on his face.  
“Do you have a rude nickname for everyone?” Nines asked.  
“Listen here you tin can -” Gavin cut himself off realizing what he had said and his ears started to turn red.   
“Yes,” Kamski chuckled. “But only for those he cares about.”  
“I am still here Victor Frankenstein!” Gavin shot back.   
“Hey that’s a low blow,” Kamski said in mock pain. “See the more he cares the worse it gets.”  
“BOYS!” Anderson called out causing both men to turn quickly and face him. “Bicker like old ladies later but we did come here for a real emergency. We have already been here for ten minutes meaning that whoever has been tracking us has our exact location. The more we argue the more time they have to get here even more equipped than last time. So can we focus on what’s important.”  
“Sorry Lieutenant,” Reed mumbled. “You’re right.”  
“What’s wrong?” Elijah’s voice lost all it’s light hearted banter turning to steel. When Gavin apologized he knew it was serious.  
“Nines you understand it best would you do the honours?” Gavin requested through gritted teeth.  
“Well sir, it appears that a group of anti-android humans are going after RK800 and those with your unique coding; your prototypes. This virus was encoded to attack Connor’s investigative programs corrupting them and creating a homing sub-program. It is causing both Connor and I to broadcast our location. I have isolated it but I cannot eliminate it.”  
“The men are organized,” Connor continued where Nines left off. “They attack us without us being able to gauge their actions before. They - they caught us by surprise.”

There was an awkward silence in the wake of what Connor and Nines had stated. He appeared to be thinking it over and connecting it to something else.

“I am guessing the same thing happened to Lara?” Gavin commented. “She uses the same code format as the wonder twins doesn’t she? I am guessing all your prototypes do.”  
“H-how … well yes.”  
“Your ego is going to be your undoing,” Hank commented. “Both of you. Out with what the two of you had figured out.”

Nines watched as Gavin looked between Lara, Chloe and Kamski with an unreadable expression. Reed ground his teeth as he looked away. 

“They are going to the source of the androids, you Kamski,” Gavin concluded.  
“They set us up good. They knew if they went after the prototypes that Kamski made we would go to him to find out more information and get all them together to kill,” Hank summed up looking worried.

Nines noted that Gavin’s blood pressure was rising well beyond safe limits, which usually meant he was going to do something stupid. Although he couldn’t determine which stupid act he would attempt. 

“Let’s get the virus of your partners,” Kamski said. “The two of you get over here.”

Kamski waved Nines and Connor over. Both androids hesitated going over to him. Connor looked over at Hank, his LED whirling yellow. Connor was obviously still traumatized by Kamski’s deviancy test. 

Man my cousin could be a dick. Gavin thought. Kettle and black Gavin.

The two androids hovered next to the table where Lara, was still laying on the table unmoving. Nines eyes lingered on her. There was no way without the LED to tell if an android was functioning or not in that state she was in; no breathing, eye twitching like when humans were sleeping. Nines was surprised by this thought process He was thinking of androids in comparison to humans, which he was sure was not part of his original programming. The only constant that told Nines, and the world at large, that Lara was still functioning was the slow dim pulse of the blue LED on her temple. 

Almost like a heartbeat, Nines thought. 

Nines deviant thought process was interrupted by Elijah.

“I am going to connect with the two of you wirelessly,” Kamski began to explain. “You will enter a sleep mode similar to Lara here. I would recommend picking one of the many tables here, clear it and lay down for a bit.”

Once Kamski had the two androids settled in he started to get to work. Both androids now had the same slow pulsing blue LED. They looked peaceful, and yet there was an underlying sense that something wasn’t quite right. Gavin watched Kamski as his fingers flow across his keyboard; his facial expression becoming more frustrated with every new line of code he typed.

“Damn this virus keeps fighting back,” Kamski grumbled. “It is far more complicated and targeted than the one that attacked Lara.”  
“Well can you get rid of it?” Reed asked.  
“Don’t doubt my abilities.”  
“Fuck off inspector gadget.”  
“Boys,” Hank warned again. 

Kamski took a deep breathe. 

“I can remove it -”  
“Then do it.”  
“Fuck Gavin let me finish,” Elijah sighed. “I can remove it but if I do we won’t know who sent or set this up. The virus keeps mutating its code so any of the original programmers tell tale coding signatures are lost.”  
“There sounds like you have an idea,” Hank murmured.   
“We keep the tracking locator on but we remove the rest of the virus,” Kamski looked away from both men as he spoke. He figured Hank would be extremely against this plan.  
“So you want to lure whoever is behind this here?” Hank questioned.  
“Well they are already on their way most likely, so might so well use their arrival to our advantage,” Kamski attempted to justify his position.   
“So you want to bring a fire fight to your doorstep,” Gavin rounded on Kamski.  
“It maybe the only way to figure out who has targeted our androids. The code has changed too much to be useful. As Much as this level of coding is difficult to do, I can think of six people who could do it and five of them were fired from cyberlife. And all of that is just off the top of my mind, I am sure there are more. That is far too many suspects for a traditional method of inquiry.”   
“Since when have you ever been the detective?”  
“Reed, Kamski cut it out,” Hank said loudly bringing their attention to him. “Reed I can’t believe I am going to this but Kamski is right.”  
“You can’t be-”  
“I am,” Hank cut Gavin off. “If we don’t figure out who is targeting Kamski and his prototypes - our partners, now who knows what they could think up next. We have the opportunity to end this now so let’s take it. They are mostly likely on their way just like Kamski said.”  
“I get that but we have no back up, limited weaponry, and a bunch of civilian robots and a genius who has his head up his ass.”

Gavin was getting anxious. He was rather certain taking a stand here would be disastrous. There wasn’t much in the way of defense other than the house being in the middle of nowhere. 

“I don’t have my head -”  
“Up your ass? Yes, yes you do. You are a civilian, you have no training. The Chloe model isn’t designed for combat. Sue the wonder twins are but I can’t ask them because they can’t say no.”  
“They can …”  
“They are designed to service, deviant or not, their prime function is service so they will take the bullet for you because they are programmed to see themselves as expendable,” Gavin retorted. He looked to the sleeping form of Nines. He had tried to get in front of Gavin many times when they had been in a fight; trying to take bullets and punches that were meant for him. 

Kamski paled as Gavin spoke. Reed was exposing a flaw in the way he had programmed his deviancy into the androids. The freedom to choose was still influenced by their primary code.

“You didn’t think of that, did you? And you know why? You don’t fully value life, human or android. You don’t get free choice really. It show in your fucking kamski test. You named it after yourself which is fitting, I doubt even you could pass it. You get Connor to decide between his objective and killing another android. Did Chloe even have a choice in this? When she had a gun pointed at her head? Did you know for sure that Connor was devient or did you just guess and hope you didn’t get Chloe killed?”  
“Lara, hope I didn’t get Lara Killed,” Kamski mumbled. “I messed up, I get it but I am trying to help here.”

Gavin had run himself dry. He was out of breath, his palms clammy. He didn’t like the idea of all these people getting hurt. All his friends, co-workers, people he cared about - Hank and the kid included. They weren’t prepared, they would get attacked, hurt and maybe killed. Reeds emotions overwhelmed him and he had attacked his cousin. What Reed had said was true but the hurt look on the genius’ face left a bad taste in his mouth. Hank watched this exchange, taking a step back knowing that this had to happen. There was too much between the two of them. If these thoughts were kept under wraps they would be distracted and that could be fatal. Given their stakes best to get this out now. 

“I’m sorr-” Reed started.   
“No your right, I messed up that day.” Elijah held up a hand to silence his cousin. “I was making a gamble that I had no right make. It could have gotten Lara killed. I’m sure whoever is attacking me this time had no qualms about hurting them either. But you are just as bad as I am. You don’t care if you live Reed. You put yourself in harms way, how often are your colleagues injured and shot at far less than you. You don’t get close to anyone ever; hell I haven’t even talk to you in years. You are fucking suicidal! That is why you don’t let anyone get close to you Your antis are going to get you killed and you don’t seem to care you keep looking for trouble.”

Gavin had no rebuttal to what Kamski had said. He knew it was true to an extent; Nines had already given him the statistics earlier that day. But Kamski hadn’t been there to now those statistics, how could he know all of this, Elijah wasn’t part of his life anymore. Kamski didn’t care about Gavin, as far as he knew at least.

“Don’t look shocked that I know your track record. I knew you didn't want to talk to me but that didn’t stop me from keeping an eye out for you, cousin. I still give a shit about you even when you don’t about yourself.”

An awkward silence filled the workroom at last. Reed couldn’t face Elijah, Nines, or Hank. He was angry, but he wasn’t sure about what. Most of this was his own fault a result of his own practiced isolation. He had created this gap between him and the entire police department, the same gap between Eli and himself. Reed felt like he couldn’t breath in that room anymore, he felt cornered. He had to get out of there, somewhere he could breathe and think.

“I … I will be outside if you need me,” Gavin said hastily, rushing down the stairs before anyone could call him back.


End file.
